Sublimation transfer ink compositions, also known as disperse dye inks, are known from EP 1533347. Sublimation transfer ink compositions may comprise an aqueous medium and a heat transferable dye. Sublimation transfer ink compositions can be used to provide an image onto textile substrates, such as polyester fabrics. These fabrics can be used for making clothing.
When applying an image onto a textile substrate using a sublimation transfer ink composition, typically an image is applied onto an intermediate transfer member. This image is subsequently transferred to the textile substrate, thereby providing the textile substrate with the image.
However, sublimation transfer ink composition may suffer from bleeding: droplets of ink may spread too much on the intermediate transfer member and/or textile substrate, thereby causing phenomena such as color bleeding. The occurrence of color bleeding results in visual decrease of the print quality.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a sublimation transfer ink composition that provides improved image quality. It is a further object of the invention to provide a printing method providing improved image quality.